Time: 45-60 minutes for each trail. Difficulty:
1. Trailhead: Located in the village of
Barber, beside a large church, in the western part of the island. Admission
fee. Open sunrise to sunset. Benches and picnic areas provided.

Hofi Pastor (Priest's Orchard) covers 12 hectares and is operated by
the Friends of the Earth. It offers 2 different hiking trails.

Both start at a magnificent 300-year-old kapok tree
with huge plank roots. It is surrounded by dozens of mature fruit trees.

The Yellow Trail passes through a forest of mahogany
and calabash trees and the arid countryside, ending at the top of a
hill with an excellent panoramic view of the surrounding area.

The Orange Trail goes through some of the island's
largest trees. Of particular note is the surun di mundi tree with its
large, light green leaves; it is almost extinct on Curacao. This shaded
trail also ends at the top of a hill with a panoramic view.

Most of Curacao's hofis (orchards) have been neglected
over the years and no longer yield fruit. This hofi was sold to a catholic
priest, Father Nieuwindt, in the early 1800s. He became a thorn in the
side of local landowners when he started holding weekly masses in the
corn barn of a friendly neighbor.

Over 500 slaves attended each service, and locals
were afraid they would rebel. After the governor stopped the weekly
sessions in 1829, Father Nieuwindt received permission to build Barber
Church, adjacent to the hofi.

In the late 1800s the hofi became known as St. Josefsdal but people
today still call it Hofi Pastor.